Make My Wish Come True
by phoenixprentiss
Summary: A three-chapter set of Christmas themed JJ/Emily one-shots spanning over three year's Christmases! The final story is the longest.
1. Chapter 1

Penelope Garcia's apartment was decorated wonderfully for the holiday season, and the first thing Emily Prentiss noticed was the extremely oversized tree that barely fit into the small space.

Penelope handed her a bright, festive mug that was full of hot, spiced apple cider and she accepted it graciously. Emily greeted Reid warmly, who was the only other member of the team who'd arrived already.

Rossi arrived next and not long after that it was Morgan. Emily began easy chit chat with Morgan, as they waited for Hotch and JJ to arrive.

As the doorbell rang, Emily's eyes darted to door to see who would be arriving now, and when she saw JJ, she felt something shift in her mind.

Long ago she'd learned to suppress her feelings for JJ. She kept contact with her at work to a minimal amount, only talking to her when it was absolutely necessary. After a while, it felt like the silly crush was gone. Her way of dismissing her feelings has seemed to work.

For a little while, least.

JJ's hair was up in a way that made it look elegant while still being a bit messy, and she wore mostly dark blue which accented her eyes in a way Emily thought only supermodels could achieve. JJ smiled widely as she took her cider from Penelope, and suddenly, Emily stopped listening to whatever Morgan was saying.

Emily averted her eyes from JJ and was grateful when Hotch arrived at last so that they could begin the exchange of gifts, and her mind could move on from JJ.

But soon even that was over and Emily found it harder to avoid JJ throughout the night.

After refilling her cider, Emily relaxed against the doorway. She took note of the fact that the song playing on the radio was All I Want for Christmas Is You, and realized how ironically true the lyrics were at this moment. But then she felt a small touch on the back of her shoulder and shivered, then saw that it was JJ who had come around the corner and joined her. Emily's pulse instantly sped up.

"Look up," JJ whispered, and so Emily did.

There was a sprig of mistletoe hanging.

Emily suddenly was not happy with Penelope.

Emily looked away again, but then felt soft lips against her own and thought her heart would explode from beating so hard when she realized it was JJ kissing her.

JJ pulled away with a soft smile spread across her face. Emily was speechless as she stared at JJ, set down her cider on a table, and then pulled JJ in by the waist into a much deeper kiss. JJ seemed shocked, and as their lips combined, and they were so lost in each other that they didn't notice that the rest of the team had grown quiet.

JJ pulled away with a gasp when she needed to breathe and found herself staring in the dark eyes of the woman she'd been in love with for longer than she'd ever care to admit.

"It's about time something happened between you two," Rossi said with a chuckle.

"That's for sure. Even I noticed," Hotch replied, sharing a smile.

Emily turned back to JJ and they both laughed, each pulling the other into a hug where it felt like they melted in to each other.

"Merry Christmas, JJ." Emily whispered.

"Merry Christmas, Emily."


	2. Chapter 2

**Christmas**

Christmas time.

What once was JJ's favorite time of the year for more reasons than she could have counted. The overall joyful mood, the cold weather, exchanging gifts with the team at Penelope's annual party, taking Henry to see Santa at the mall, and her anniversary with Emily, just to name a few.

She'd been looking forward to all of those but one this year.

JJ and Emily had come to a – for the most part – mutual agreement at the beginning of the month that it would be for the best if their relationship came to an end.

This had sort of killed JJ's holiday spirit entirely.

Having to break up with someone you truly loved just before the holiday season. How much worse could it get?

She'd done everything she'd planned for the season, but with much less enthusiasm. There was now a new photo of Henry grinning on the lap of Santa Claus hanging on the wall. Penelope's party had been pleasant, where JJ easily kept her distance from Emily while still maintaining polite conversation. However, the entire time, she'd wanted to burst into tears.

And now Christmas Eve was here, and JJ was alone because Will had Henry this year. JJ was trying to pass the time without thinking about Emily or drinking. So far, it wasn't working, and memories of the previous year's Christmas filled JJ's head as she poured herself a glass of dark red wine.

She took it to the couch where she planned to curl up under her favorite blanket and drown her sorrows in the wine. After she set down the glass and went to retrieve her blanket, she turned the radio on just to see what was playing.

When JJ heard the opening notes of "All I Want For Christmas is You" she started bawling.

Of all the things that brought back painful memories of her and Emily's relationship, it was this song. It meant a lot more to them than it did to some people who just thought of it as another holiday love song, and sort of a cheesy one at that. This song was part of the beginning of their relationship.

She wondered if Emily was listening, too.

There was then a knock on the door, and JJ ignored it, figuring it was last minute carolers, though it was much too late in the evening for that. She found no reason to get up from the couch.

When the knocking persisted, JJ groaned and got up to answer it, and when she opened the door, she saw the exact raven-haired woman who'd been haunting her memories just moments before.

"Hey," Emily whispered softly, her pale cheeks already cherry-red from the cold. "I…I miss you. And I wasn't sure how you were feeling but I think—"

Emily stopped when she saw that tears fell down JJ's cheeks. JJ pulled Emily in from the freezing outdoors and into a warm hug. "I miss you too."

"Breaking up was a dumb decision, wasn't it," Emily said with a soft laugh.

JJ could only nod.

"Merry Christmas, sweetheart," She said softly before pulling Emily into a long, deep kiss.

JJ's Christmas was finally happy again.


	3. Chapter 3

"Em, what are we gonna do for the holidays? Henry will be with Will this year, so we can do whatever."

"Well…" Emily replied. She'd held back from telling this to JJ before but figured now was the time. "Every year, there's a large Prentiss holiday 'gathering,' as my mother calls it. I haven't been in a couple of years but it's usually my aunts and uncles, cousins, and their kids. Despite being an only child, I have quite a large family. My mom invited me again this year."

"She doesn't know about us, does she?" JJ answered.

"No," Emily said reproachfully. "But she wouldn't care if I brought a friend along. There's plenty of space at that oversized mansion of hers."

"That sounds good," JJ said. "Let's do that, then. I'd love to meet your family."

"Oh, it won't be as fun as it sounds. Trust me."

JJ was worrying.

"JJ, you don't have to worry so much. I'm sure everything will be fine."

"Tell me again how your mom reacted the last time you brought home a girl." JJ replied.

"Well," Emily began. "The last time I brought a girl home to meet my mom was when I was in high school. And then decided not to introduce her as my girlfriend because I was too scared." She admitted.

"Wait," JJ said. "Does your mom even know you're a lesbian?"

"Oh. Yeah. About that," Emily replied uncertainly. "No, she does not."

"Em, then why are we doing this now?"

"I already told her I'd be home for Christmas, and that I was bringing a friend. It's gonna be fine, Jayje."

JJ didn't look convinced, and instead of replying, turned up the heat in the car.

Elizabeth Prentiss greeted her daughter with a big hug and welcomed her in quickly, JJ following behind her.

"Mother, this is Jennifer, one of my coworkers,"

Elizabeth shook JJ's head with a pleasant smile and "Nice to meet you." JJ returned the kindness then waited for Emily to say more.

"She was one of the first friends I made at the bureau, and she really helped me get settled in and accustomed to DC."

It wasn't long before Emily was greeted by another Prentiss. She'd forgotten how big her family was, although she had no siblings. She had plenty of cousins which brought for plenty of nieces and nephews.

Throughout the rest of the day Emily kept an eye on JJ, and if she was bothered by the fact that Emily hadn't told her mom yet, she sure didn't show it.

"So, JJ, you ready to meet most of the entire Prentiss clan?"

"I guess," JJ answered. "Should I be worried?"

"No, no, you'll be fine. You're great with kids.

"To start there's my two cousins from my dad's siblings: Sara and Eliza. Eliza never married but Sara has two boys: Max and Levi. They're twins and are eight. Then on my mom's side there's Camille, Lawrence, and Peter. Let's see if I can get this straight. Camille has Phoebe who's nine, Lawrence has Felicia who's thirteen, and Peter has McKenzie who's ten and Nick who's twelve. I _think._ " Emily paused so JJ could take it all in. "It's okay if you don't remember. Sometimes even I don't."

"Okay," JJ said slowly. "I'll figure it out." She shrugged.

"And then there's me. Unmarried with no kids."

"Except for your beautiful girlfriend and her adorable son."

"That is true," Emily replied with a smile. "Oh, and I'm out to Eliza, so she may ask if we're together."

JJ followed Emily downstairs, where they found the kids all bundling up.

"We're going ice skating!" Phoebe exclaimed.

JJ turned to Emily with wide eyes. "I am absolutely _terrible_ at ice skating."

"Then we'll teach you." Emily handed JJ her coat from the hook by the door. "It's not _that_ hard."

JJ's legs wobbled as she stepped up in the ice skates, and Emily immediately grabbed her hand to stabilize her. Together they slowly made their way towards the rink. "Now, this is probably one of the hardest parts: getting onto the ice and balancing. It'll feel really slippery, but I won't let you fall."

Emily stepped onto the ice, holding on to JJ's hand. JJ took a couple hesitant steps forward and made it on to the ice.

"Emily!" JJ shrieked, her feet slipping. Emily grabbed JJ's waist and JJ held on to Emily's shoulders as if her life depended on it. Emily pulled her over to the railing of the rink.

"Hold on to the wall at all times." Emily instructed. "Now move your feet forward like you're walking."

"I still don't like this at all," JJ grumbled.

Emily smiled. "I know."

Minutes later, with a lot of encouragement from Emily's part, they'd made it forward about three feet.

"You should be good at this! You played soccer!" Emily exclaimed.

" _Years_ ago!" JJ replied. "In high school." JJ sighed and said, "Em, you go ahead and skate. I think I'll sit and just watch."

"You sure, Jayje?" The blonde nodded. Emily smiled and then sped off to help the younger ones learn to skate.

JJ was grateful that she got to take her skates off, and the ground felt stable again. She'd only been sitting for a few moments when a woman who JJ recognized as one of Emily's cousins came and sat next to her, looking as equally flustered as JJ had felt.

"You're Emily's friend, right? I'm her cousin, Eliza."

"I'm Jennifer, it's nice to meet you. Emily's been great about telling me who's who."

Eliza chuckled. "Yeah, there's a lot of us."

There was a small pause before Eliza asked, "If you don't mind me asking, are you Emily's partner?"

JJ nodded with a smile. "And let me guess, Elizabeth doesn't know," Eliza added.

"That would be correct." JJ sighed. "I don't know when she'll tell her mom."

"She's waited a long time," Eliza remarked.

JJ felt suddenly defensive about her girlfriend. "She just isn't ready yet. It can be really hard."

"I would think so," Eliza replied, and soon the conversation slipped away from Emily and into light chatter. The time passed until it was later in the evening, and it was time to get back to the Prentiss manor.

Emily picked up her mug from where she'd left it on the kitchen counter and took a sip of the hot chocolate before sitting down in the armchair across from her mother.

It was quiet for a moment before Emily spoke. "There's something I need to tell you."

Elizabeth looked up at her daughter. "Yes, Emily?"

"Jennifer's my girlfriend, and we've been seeing each other for about three years now." Emily explained, her heart pounding. She always got like this when she came out— and it never got easier, no matter how many times she did it.

Much to Emily's surprise, her mother smiled. "I like her. She'd good to you."

Emily was shocked for a moment until she said, "That's all you're gonna say?"

Elizabeth smiled again. "Emily, honey, I've known you're gay since you were 16." Emily didn't know how to respond to this, but Elizabeth added, "I'm proud of you."

Emily was silent for another second before saying, "Thank you," quietly. Then she stood up, and left the room to go find JJ.

Emily found her girlfriend sitting in front of the window in the guest bedroom they were sharing. Emily sat next to her, and JJ turned to her with a soft smile. "Hey," JJ murmured.

"I told my mom about us," Emily stated, hoping JJ was okay with it.

JJ raised her eyebrows. "How'd she react?"

"Well, she said she's known I'm gay since I was a teenager, and that she'd proud of me. She also said you're good to me, which I'm sure is all lies."

JJ punched the brunette's shoulder. "Oh, shut up, Em. You can't deny the fact that you're helplessly in love with me no matter what."  
Emily rested her head on JJ's shoulder. "That, my dear, is undoubtedly true."

It was late on the evening of Christmas Eve, and the young children were all tucked away in bed. Emily was glad of this, because as ,much as she loved all of her cousins' kids, dealing with them for longer than two days could be exhausting.

All the adults were still awake, murmuring over hot chocolate while a radio station played Christmas music softly. Emily was relaxed on a loveseat, waiting for JJ, who'd gone to find more marshmallows for her cocoa. When she returned, she situated herself next to her girlfriend. She tucked her legs under herself as she leaned against Emily's shoulder, sighing happily.

"So what do you want Santa to bring you?" JJ asked.

"Santa already brought me my present five years ago when I joined the BAU." Emily replied, pulling JJ closer to her and wrapping her arms around the blonde.

Content, cozy, and happy, JJ buried her face against the warm body of her girlfriend. Christmas was here again, and JJ hoped to be spending the next hundred Christmases in the exact same way.

Full of family, kindness, and most of all, love.


End file.
